Slovenia’s Pivovarna Lasko, Infond Holding Call Tender for 48% of Retailer Mercator

The sale procedure will be performed in three phases, Pivovarna Lasko said in a statement to the Ljubljana Stock Exchange (LJSE).

During the first phase, which will last from January 9 to February 2, the potential buyers can obtain the information memorandum and submit non-binding bids.

Only bidders which have submitted the most appropriate bids will be allowed to participate in the second phase. They will be granted the option to perform a due diligence of Mercator and submit binding bids.

The binding bids should include the number of shares targeted for purchase, price per share, payment terms and conditions, date of payment and any other terms of purchase.

The submission deadline for the binding bids will be announced upon the start of the second phase, the statement said.

"The third phase will include negotiations referring to the formation of sale agreements and the finalisation of the share price with one or several buyers," it added.

The two companies have said they plan to sell their Mercator stake by the end of March.

Mercator posted a group net profit of 36.4 million euro ($46 million) in the first nine months of 2008, 0.9% higher than a year earlier.

Shares in blue chip Mercator gained 4.63% to an average price of 174.32 euro on the LJSE on Monday. Blue chip Pivovarna Lasko rose 2.68% to 40.97 euro. Pivovarna Lasko released the statement before the end of trading.

($ = 0.7886 euro)